Economics
Powell’s Job Measure Overstates Labor-Market Tightness, Fed Economists Say
- St. Louis Fed economists say an adjusted measure is better
- Job vacancies are almost twice as many as unemployed workers
Jerome Powell
Photographer: Al Drago/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The US labor market is much less tight than perceived by a measure frequently cited by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as evidence of overheating, two economists at the St Louis Fed bank said.
Job vacancies are about twice the number of unemployed workers, an especially high figure, Powell said in his press conference following the Fed’s June 14-15 meeting. Yet adjusting the ratio of vacancies to also include employed workers who move to a new job shows a less-tight market, economists David Andolfatto and Serdar Birinci wrote in a post on the St. Louis Fed’s website.